Stay or Go, and How?

Climate change is happening in real time right now. Temperatures are rising. Storms are intensifying. Permafrost and glaciers are melting. All of these affect sea levels. The oceans absorb much of the planet’s heat, and warmer ocean waters expand onto land. Intense storms can throw sea water far inland, destroying buildings and infrastructure, shifting river… Continue reading Stay or Go, and How?

Engineering for Reality

It’s sand in the turbine again. Hell cats with singed tails squalling in the wind. Don’t know what they have to complain about. They come from worse heat than this, or so the story goes. Maybe. On second thought, I don’t really believe there is worse heat than this. The sun might be cooler than… Continue reading Engineering for Reality

World Water Day and Drought

World Water Day is 22 March 2021. This annual observance was organized by the UN in 1993 to focus attention on the importance of freshwater and to promote sustainable freshwater management. Each year a different theme is chosen, centered on topics relevant to clean water, sanitation and hygiene. The theme for 2021 is Valuing Water… Continue reading World Water Day and Drought

Kiss Me I’m Irish

Humans are deeply social creatures. It is the essential fact of being human. We are part of a group from the moment we are born. We live with others of our kind (and some not of our kind) more prevalently than most animals. Few of us thrive without friends and family. Loneliness is far more… Continue reading Kiss Me I’m Irish

What Is This Vernal Equinox Thing?

There is some confusion regarding the solar event that happens this week. I thought I might try to clear that up.  True or False: The vernal equinox is when spring begins. Not exactly. The beginning of spring depends on where you live, and it is more a cultural phenomenon than a meteorological one. Tradition in… Continue reading What Is This Vernal Equinox Thing?

The Clootie Tree

there is a sacred spring down the lane yea, truly, though abandoned by utility desecrated by profanity there is a tiny bit of the elysian just down the lane a spring bedight in candles, coins, rags, riches scraps of superstition supplication alms and oblation just down the lane and surreptitiously they come seeking lucidity seeking… Continue reading The Clootie Tree

Is Farming the Problem?

Here is a story that we tell ourselves. From The Good Ancestor: “Consider the immense legacy left by our ancestors: those who sowed the first seeds in Mesopotamia 10,000 years ago, who cleared the land, built the waterways and founded the cities where we now live, who made the scientific discoveries, won the political struggles… Continue reading Is Farming the Problem?

Permaculture (Lazy) Pruning Tips

The maple sap is running. The skies are blue. There is a warm breeze. The snow is… mostly evaporating, actually. Or sublimating is probably the more correct term. There are rodents chasing each other through the pines, and the birds are loud even at midday. Crows seem to have much to say today; the wren… Continue reading Permaculture (Lazy) Pruning Tips